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Hit the course today

As requested I'm going to keep you guys posted as I attempt to make the transition from open water skier to working the course- and hopefully someday enter a grassroots tournament. So today I went out to the ski club and managed all the novice buoys at 15 off and about 31 mph. Met some other guys in the club and got some tips. The suggestion was to drop the speed to 28 mph and start gunning for the "real buoys" so I guess that's next.

For sure - run the real bouys. At 28 mph -
As the boat approaches the pullout bouys get in the lefthand whitewater outside the wake, and take a couple of deep relaxing breaths.
When you hit the pull out bouys,
1. focus your eyes on the pylon
2. do a quick out ( about a 2 second effort) shifting your knees and hips in the outbound direction, keep eyes on pylon
3. glide in a near upright position with weight balanced (not leaning back)
4. when the the back of the boat clears the gates make your move to the gates by shifting your hips toward the gate.
5. If you miss the gate don't quit or get bummed, just ski as if yo made it.

Keep in mind that this is way easier than you think if you hit the timing right. Don't make my typical mistake thinking this is really hard and get frantic.

Good on ya Skiyaker...I'm trying to learn the course as well. On very rare occasions (like twice this year so far) I have managed all 6 buoys at 30mph 15 off. Mostly I can get about four in a row or 1,2,3,5,6. Thanks Benson for the insight on the gates. You hit the nail on the head. Every time I make the turn in for the gates I freak out and rush it. I'll post a pic of my feable attempts next time I'm out there.

Hey, cool. I want to do just this! There is a local slalom lake but I've been intimidated to go because I've never run the course and I get the feeling they are all pros there. Guess I just need to jump in and do it. Keep us posted.

thanks for the thoughts/encouragement/advice
Dave- it sounds like you've coached some newbies and been there/done that
the timing of the entrance gates threw me off quite a bit at first- especially the times I skied over the entrance buoys instead of between them. Like you said I changed my goal to skiing somewhere near them and continuing my run even if I missed the gate- thanks for your advice on the timing- I'm hoping to get back out there tonight or tomorrow. The tough thing about our course is it's so short there's no real time to collect thoughts. As soon as the boat is up to speed it's right on the entrance gates but hey it's Indiana and as they say we suffer from "lack of water"

gray- I feel the same way; our club has some really good skiers there's at least one guy that skis at 32-35 off but all I had to do is meet one of them and express interest in "the lost art of slalom" and they got me right in. the first time I went out in a weekday afternoon with just my wife and kids but honestly I got a lot more out of it when there were some other skiers around that could coach me a little. I've found it's best just to explain my situation and abilities and be open to constructive advice. Indiana has some clinics put on by various ski clubs so I'm going to try to hit those too. One thing I can say for sure is it's really fun and I wish I had done this sooner but at age 33 hopefully there's still time to figure it out!

Actually I spent 40 years sking incorrectly and just last week I speent a week at The Liquid Edge in Farmer City IL. Doug worked hard to correct my years of bad habits and we spent a lot of time on the gates. So I am just replaying what I remember from that.

If there is anywhere you can get some lessons in the course, it will be a great investment.

Good luck - remember to relax and have fun... If you miss a gate or a bouy don't get all angry and animated. Just reflect on what might have caused the problem - try to visualize it and adjust...

Very cool. If I could make any suggestion it would parrot most of what has been said. My one thing is always make 6 turns. Doesn't matter if you missed the first one or all of them, always make six turns.

well cool made it back to the course today- slowed down to 28-29 and on best pass made 1,2,4,6 "real buoys" and taking sleds advice I made novice buoy turns at 3,5 so I made 6 turns. wouldn't ya know there was a guy with a beautiful moomba boomerang there- he pulled me through the course with his boat and I pulled his son wakeboarding with the OBV.